The present invention relates to a ski boot having an outer shell and an inner boot member which is fitted inside the outer shell. More particularly, the present invention relates to a ski boot having a foot tightening mechanism designed to tighten and untighten the front portion of the ankle of the skier's foot from the outer surface of the inner boot member in response to the opening and closing movements of the rear cuff of the outer shell.
There has heretofore been known one type of ski boot which comprises an outer shell and an inner boot member and has a tightening mechanism designed to secure the skier's foot. One example of this type of ski boot is disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,332 (Japanese patent Laid-Open No. 118360/1977).
The above-described known ski boot is arranged as described below. A pressing member is disposed at the front portion of the ankle of an inner boot member which is fitted in an outer shell in such a manner that the pressing member is distributed over a desired region. One end of a cable is connected to this pressing member, while the other end portion of the cable is guided toward the heel portion of the outer shell and connected to a tight-fastening means attached to a rear cuff of the outer shell. When the rear cuff is tightly secured to a front cuff of the outer shell by the action of the tight-fastening means, the pressing member is caused to tighten the ankle portion in response to the operation of the tight-fastening means, thereby allowing the ski boot to be reliably secured to the skier's foot.
Accordingly, when the skier inserts his foot into the inner boot member and tightens the rear cuff with the tight-fastening means provided on the rear cuff, the pressing member tightens the front portion of the ankle through the inner boot member. Thus, it is unnecessary to conduct any special manual operation in order to fasten the ski boot, which means that the operation is conveniently simple. On the other hand, when the skier's leg is inclined forward during, for example, sliding, both the front and rear cuffs of the outer shell are also inclined forward, thus causing pulling force to be generated in the cable, which results in the pressing member tightening the ankle portion of the foot stronger than is necessary. This causes the skier's foot to suffer a pain, so that it is impossible to enjoy sliding for a long period of time, disadvantageously.
In order to overcome the above-described problem it is conventional practice to adopt an arrangement such as that disclosed in the specifications of U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,763 (Japanese patent Laid-Open Nos. 137001/1984 and 225502/1985). More specifically, a pivot shaft for the rear cuff is provided with a through-hole which curvedly extends therethrough in the diameterial direction, and a cable which is connected to a pressing pad disposed on the ankle portion is passed through the through-hole, thereby preventing any pulling force from being generated in the cable even when the rear cuff of the outer shell is pivoted forward about the pivot shaft as the skier's leg is inclined forward during, for example, sliding, and also preventing any increase in the pressure applied to the ankle from the pressing pad.
In the above-described conventional ski boot having a foot-tightening mechanism, the cable for tightening the pressing pad is guided while being passed through the diametrical through-hole formed in the pivot shaft of the rear cuff. Accordingly, even when the rear cuff is pivoted rearward about the pivot shaft so as to be opened, there is no change in the pulling force applied to the cable by means of a tight-fastening lever, and the pressing pad is therefore maintained in a state wherein it is pressed against the front portion of the ankle, which means that the skier's foot cannot smoothly be inserted into and removed from the inner boot member and an unfavorable force may act on the foot to cause it to suffer a pain. In addition, the skier's foot cannot satisfactorily be fitted to the inner boot member. Accordingly, when the foot is removed from or inserted into the inner boot member of the ski boot, it is necessary to pivot the rear cuff rearward after pivoting the tight-fastening level in the direction in which the rear cuff is opened to negate the pressure applied by the pressing pad. This involves relatively complicated and troublesome operation and the problem that the skier may forget to set the tight-fastening lever in the tightening position.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a ski boot so designed that it is possible to release the cable from the tightening force simply by tilting the rear cuff rearward without the need to operate the foot tight-fastening means, thus facilitating the operation of putting on and off the ski boot.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a ski boot so designed that, even when the rear cuff is inclined forward as the skier's leg is inclined forward during, for example, sliding, no pulling force acts on the cable, which force would otherwise cause the cable to tighten the foot undesirably, thus allowing the skier to enjoy skiiing for a long period of time without causing his foot to suffer pain.